So what is the story w/ this guy. Pretty darn impressive #'s so far. Is he going to be a regular for the reminder of the year? What kind of player is Benny Boy? I see he won a batting title in minors & has some decent speed it seems. What do we expect from Fransico the rest of the way?

He has experienced success on every level, including last season at Class AAA Buffalo, where he hit .278 with 17 homers, 59 RBI, 80 runs scored and 25 stolen bases. He also showed the ability to play all three outfield positions.

As a result, Francisco, who was the Tribe’s fifth-round draft choice in 2002, moves all the way up to No. 12 on this year’s Indians Ink list of the Tribe’s Top 100 Prospects. He was No. 22 a year ago.

The 25-year-old right-hander now has 1,875 minor league at-bats in 492 games. He has a lifetime minor league batting average of .289 with 53 homers, 240 RBI, 313 runs scored and 99 stolen bases.

Francisco, aside from learning to be more aggressive defensively, has nothing left to prove in the minors. When making a catch, Francisco has a tendency to glide to the ball rather than run hard all the way to the spot where it is coming down.

Offensively, he has an approach similar to that of Hall of Famer Paul Molitor. He has very limited movement in his bat and he doesn’t swing at a lot of bad pitches. In 2006, he struck out just 72 times.

His ability to make contact, get on base and steal bases should make Francisco an ideal candidate to bat either first or second in the lineup if necessary, although once he does get his shot at the majors, he will likely hit toward the bottom of the order early in his career.

The only flaw that was in Francisco’s offensive approach was his penchant for swinging at fastballs above the strike zone. Buffalo manager Torey Lovullo was able to correct that problem early last season, leading to 25-game hitting streak, the second longest in Buffalo Bisons modern day history.

Francisco has always been an excellent hitter for average. In 2002 he won the New York-Penn League batting title when he hit .349 at short-season Mahoning Valley.